Kevin Bryan delivers his verdict on some of this week's CD releases.

The Lovin' Spoonful,"Daydream" (Talking Elephant)- The distinctive brand of good-time music created by John Sebastian and his quirky cohorts in the Lovin' Spoonful was all the rage for a few years during the mid-sixties, before the departures of guitarist Zal Yanovsky and creative mainstay Sebastian signalled the beginning of the end for these consistent hit-makers, who finally gave up the ghost in 1969. The group were still operating at the peak of their powers when they captured "Daydream" for posterity in 1966 however, regaling listeners with Spoonful classics such as "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice," "Jug Band Music" and the infectious title track.

Big Country,"Eclectic" (Talking Elephant)- Stuart Adamson's rabble rousing Celtic rockers recorded this rather eccentric acoustic set at London's Dingwalls venue over two nights in March 1996. The contents are nothing if not eclectic, running the gamut from affectionate covers of "Eleanor Rigby," George Gershwin's "Summertime" and Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" to stripped down revamps of perennial crowd pleasers from the band's own back catalogue such as "King of Emotion" and "Where The Rose Is Sown." Big Country's fortunes were flagging a little by this stage of their career and the finished product wasn't a huge success, although its tuneful charms haven't been dimmed by the passage of time.

Osibisa,"Welcome Home" (Talking Elephant)- Osibisa were responsible for championing the cause of African culture long before the term "world music" came into common usage, releasing a string of critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums during the early seventies which fused elements of West African highlife music with calypso, jazz ,funk and rock , prompting favourable comparisons with the likes of Santana. "Welcome Home" first saw the light of day in 1975 and provides an ideal introduction to the delights of this vibrant outfit's highly danceable sound, with their minor hit single, "Sunshine Day," emerging as one of the album's stand-out tracks.

Ashley Hutchings,"Gone Missing" (Talking Elephant)-Singer,bass player, arranger and all round Renaissance man Ashley Hutchings has made an invaluable contribution to the development of English folk-rock during the past half century or so, helping to found influential bands such as Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and the Albion Band as well as pursuing an eclectic array of solo projects with varying degrees of success. This typically wide-ranging collection of out-takes and rarities takes listeners on a fascinating journey around Hutchings' literary and musical influences, including snatches of beloved film scripts.passages from Shakespeare and Graham Greene and exquisite covers of Dylan's "Ballad in plain D" and "Girl From the north country."